(Editor's note. Massachusetts has a rich history of farming as well as an active agricultural economy. Accurate valuation of farmland is thus an important concern for communities that have developed and want to sustain agricultural economies.)

Land is just one of many factors of production in agriculture. Despite its critical importance and in the absence of efficient rental markets, the value of land, as with managerial labor, is often determined as a residual; subtract all other production costs from total revenue and what is left is the “rental value” for land. This annual value can then be projected into the future, discounted and summed to determine the value of agricultural land. This is essentially the capitalization of net income approach to determining agricultural land values. If rental markets are efficient in an economics sense, then an equivalent value for land can be determined by capitalizing “ground rent.” In Massachusetts, sufficient rental data do not exist to offer a reliable means of determining agricultural land values.

Filing season is finally over and we know the last thing on your mind is next tax season. But did you know that if given more prep time, you could be saving yourself lots of stress and time? Start planning for next tax season now …Continue Reading Prep Early for Next Tax Season

Once a month, the Department of Revenue’s Child Support Enforcement (CSE) lawyers and staff volunteer to be a part of the Family Court Workshops for Mothers and Fathers at the Suffolk County Probate & Family Court in Boston. The workshops, a joint venture between community …Continue Reading DOR’s Participation in the Family Court Workshops

Filing season is finally over and we know the last thing on your mind is next tax season. But did you know that if given more prep time, you could be saving yourself lots of stress and time? Start planning for next tax season now …Continue Reading Prep Early for Next Tax Season

Once a month, the Department of Revenue’s Child Support Enforcement (CSE) lawyers and staff volunteer to be a part of the Family Court Workshops for Mothers and Fathers at the Suffolk County Probate & Family Court in Boston. The workshops, a joint venture between community …Continue Reading DOR’s Participation in the Family Court Workshops